5 Reasons To Absolutely Optimize Your Restaurant Website for Mobile

For those of you that own a restaurant website that is not ready for mobile devices, let's go over an all-too-common scenario.

It’s Friday, around 3:30 on a workday afternoon. Office chatter has you and 3 co-workers deliberating about happy hour. “Something Italian,” yells Chelsea.

Awesome! You remember the new place you saw on your morning commute, and like 95% of all smartphone-era restaurant goers, you search online to see how their food looks, and what kind of Italian drinks they serve.

You find them. Kind of. They’ve got a few reviews on Google  — 3 stars and above — but no photos. You don’t see a menu listed, but there is a website.

You click. It loads.

You’re now pinching and scrolling all over their site. You do find the menu, but the eye-straining PDF scan in low resolution leaves you fumbling around the page in frustration.

30 seconds later the decision has been made:

They’ve ordered Chinese. 

This is a common scenario that causes any restaurant website that is not ready for mobile to lose out on profits. In this day and age, more than 90% of diners are searching for restaurant info using mobile devices, and 80-90% of mobile device users will contact your restaurant business from their search results.

Almost 80% of customers have agreed that mobile access has improved their restaurant experience, considering options such as online ordering and reservations, and free wi-fi as priorities in the desired restaurant experience. Some have even suggested that making it possible to SMS message their chosen restaurant would be a welcome improvement.

Online Reviews Matter!

94% percent of consumers say online reviews play a factor when deciding where to eat. Your tech-savvy customers can let the world know about your establishment, whether their time with you was pleasant or not. Your online identity can keep customers coming, and help create consistency of service. Reviews should be highlighted on your website; embedded social reviews from apps like Facebook, Urbanspoon, and Yelp are some ways to show your online window-shoppers what makes your restaurant shine. Remember: a simple one-star increase on Yelp with site integration can lead to a corresponding increase in revenue of nearly 10%!

Diners Want Online Ordering, Reservations, and Mobile Pay

Reports are showing that right now is a great time to integrate the technology available to you into your business. 60-78% of today’s restaurant consumers make reservations and/or order online regularly, and ⅓ of all diners are paying up to $50 per order when ordering food online — 58% of which using mobile pay at some point in their transaction.

So again we ask: why isn’t your restaurant business mobile-ready?

With a website and online ordering system, you can connect directly with consumers conveniently, making ordering and online reservations a simple and pleasing experience that is intuitive to use, and practical for your staff as well.

Tech tip: when placing an order online, patrons are more likely to use online ordering on your site over a 3rd party service (Grubhub, Eat24, or UberEats).

Mobile makes sense on the go

With so many consumers — as much as 75% — doing their meal planning on the go, it’s a good idea to be accessible on the World Wide Web of food. Smartphone technology has particularly had a heavy impact on restaurant sales: 70% search restaurant menus on their mobile devices, 51% look for a phone number to contact their chosen restaurant, over 60% look for the restaurant’s location and directions to the location, many searching for dining within 3 miles of their current location.

Mobile means ready to buy

Accessing your website on the go combined with a quick and easy ordering process will open the door to a whole new wave of customers, and ultimately more sales.

More than 80% of mobile diners ultimately go on to make a purchase after their search, with 60% of customers ordering within an hour of finding a restaurant, and 90% of mobile users making their purchase within 24 hours.

Well, aren’t you ready to get mobile ready yet? If modern technology has done anything, it has definitely made life as a consumer or a supplier more convenient. As a restaurant owner, there is much you can already do to advertise and promote your business, but why miss out on the crowds of people using mobile devices to find a plate of food?

Wondering where you stand?

Ok, I’m sure by now you get it.  Having your restaurant’s website mobile-ready really isn’t even up for debate.  Consumers have spoken. Curious where your website stands? No problem. We built a customized restaurant version of our website audit specifically for you.  Click the link below to find out whether your website passes the test.

Show me my site score now